Thursday, February 28

- The new flooring in the Factory looks amazing! We have a very big vision to see many, many children and their families brought to Jesus through our Children's Ministry. Pray for us and pray for families you know, who you would love to see @ Olivet. Then, ask God to give you specific opportunities to invite people to church!

- Thanks to Greg Ricker, Excel Pest Control, for putting up our 30' banner for our upcoming 2-services, "Olivet Double Double". Greg was so exhausted from putting up the banner that he had to take a couple of weeks to cruise the Caribbean. ;-)

- 1st Wednesday is next week and I can't wait! Spaghetti and Caesar Salad @ 5:30, service @ 7. We're going to worship, alot, and look at some of the prophecies concerning the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It's going to be a powerful evening.

- Good Friday: SPECIAL NOTE -- We are hosting our own Good Friday service and it will be at 6 PM. We're expecting a full house as we reflect on the price paid for our salvation. Start inviting folks!

Tuesday, February 26

Monday, February 25

Crazy week last week! Gayla and I and Stephen (Vice-chair) and Ruthie (worship leader coming on staff in May) went to the C3 Conference in Dallas, Texas. This was my fourth time to this conference, and it has never disappointed for even a second. Maybe I'll boil down some of the best nuggets and post them on the blog. What makes a conference effective is when the sessions stir up ideas and creativity on how our local church can reach more people. Time spent with Gayla, Stephen and Ruthie, talking about Olivet and how we can get to the next level, was very cool. Great days ahead.

We finished up the "Pirates of Relation Ships" series yesterday. Mike Saunders did an excellent job preaching on parenting. Thanks Mike, for your candid and honest sharing. It was impacting. We had a return visit from our Pirates, and the kids (with 'crazy hair Sunday') opened the service by reading Scripture and helping us sing, "I Am a Friend of God's". We also dedicated Hudson Morris with his parents Craig and Melanie Morris. Hudson had fun slobbing on my microphone :-)

More flooring is down as we continue to renovate "The Factory". The transformation is looking awesome. I can't wait to see the old brown carpet get ripped off of those stairs!

We launched the theme for our upcoming shift to 2 services: "Olivet Double Double" How Canadian is that??!! Haha. We have some very cool invite cards that we gave out on Sunday. We also have a 30' banner that is going on the front of the church. Nice.

We also launched the theme to our Easter Services: "Jump" We also have a very cool invite card for the series. Easter is all about grace and you will never get a better offer than grace. When you get an offer like that, you need to "JUMP" at it!!! Yes, our band will be playing the song "Jump". We are praying that all of us will take these invite cards and invite people to experience God's grace. I'm praying hard that we will see many people accept God's offer of grace over the Easter season @ Olivet.

The Lapointes are in concert here this Sunday morning. Looking forward to it!

The Creative Team is meeting tonight for Chinese food. Yum! We're setting up in front of the fireplace in the lobby and working on the Easter series. Hey, you can't be creative on an empty stomach!

Ruthie is attending her first 'staff' meeting tomorrow, although she doesn't officially join the team until May.

I'll use flock to upload the double double and jump graphics, since blogger won't let me import pics off my Mac via Safari. (Ha, think about that last sentence, if I said those words a few years ago you would've thought I was speaking a different language or needed to switch to decaf) Come to think of it, some of you might think I'm speaking a different language. God is blessing and we are doing our best to be faithful and stay out of his way.

Monday, February 18

"Pirates of Relation Ships" got off to a great start yesterday! We had a gang plank built- center stage - so I could walk right out on it and talk about the Pirates that are out to sink your marriage. We didn't have cannonballs, so I used coconuts instead! ;-)Worship was totally amazing yesterday! We have an amazing worship band and worship leader! I really enjoyed the posters that we're shown to remind of us of how God is with us when we are under attack. We also had an extended time of prayer, specifically on healing. What would a Pirate series be without real Pirates?? Yup, we had a couple of swash-bucklin', deck-swabbing, ship-pillaging Pirates. Rumor has it that they will be opening the service this Sunday. Should be fun!

I mentioned yesterday that 'our very best people' should be volunteering in "The Factory" to help us raise the next generation of Jesus-followers!! Seriously, we need many of you to step up and commit to helping in either the 9:00 service or the 10:45 service. There will be a meeting for all interested this Sunday right after church. Come to the meeting or we'll send the Pirates after you!!

We're off to Dallas this week. Leaving tomorrow, back Saturday. Gayla and I are traveling with Stephen and Ruthie Woodworth to the C3 Conference at Fellowship Church, Ft. Worth. www.fellowshipchurch.com I think this is my 5th time to this conference. The speakers, content, and experience are always very challenging. I would say that this conference is one of the top influencers in my ministry thus far. Ed Young Jr, TD Jakes, Perry Noble, Brian Houston (Lead Pastor of Hillsong Church) are some of the speakers.

Random:We had around 25 out to Alpha last night! Excellent discussion after the video. (excellent dessert too!!)I'm totally loving the Second Cup coffee we are brewing on Sunday mornings!The teens are on a ski trip to Mt. Farlagne this Friday-Saturday. I hope it's warm in Dallas!We have some promo coming for Easter and the 2 Services that you are going to LOVE!God is good!

Saturday, February 16

Well, one way to know that your children have slid back into Canadian culture... Around Wednesday this week I heard Hope walking around the house humming the tune to Hockey Night in Canada! Then Autumn chimed right in behind her. Brings a tear to my eye, sniff. ;-) It's right up there with first teeth and learning to walk!

Pastor Mark has launched a new blog for parents: http://shakedownparents.wordpress.com/Save the site and hit it frequently to stay up to date on all that is happening in "the Shakedown". The permission slip for next week's ski-trip is available there.

Way to go Mike and Diane Saunders for a job well done at last night's Senior's Dinner!After the dinner we had a staff get-together at our home. Munchies, valentines cupcakes, oreo ice-cream cake, good coffee, Disney DVD Bingo (we let Conard win), Catchphrase, and many good laughs.

Wednesday, February 13

I'm looking forward to our "Pirates of Relation Ships" series this Sunday. We've got a couple things planned that I know you are going to enjoy! Just a 'couple'? I should say that the entire service is going to be impacting on many levels.

Week 1 is "Marriage" and week 2 is "Parenting". There are a lot of 'pirates' out there that are out to sink your marriage. They want to steal your treasure, rob you of your joy, make you walk the plank and feed you to the fish! Christian marriages don't have to be perfect, but they should be victorious.

On another note, you may want to snoop around some of the children's areas this Sunday. They are far from done, but they are also far from what they were! "The Factory" is taking shape and it is going to be one exciting place for kids to learn about Jesus!!

Monday, February 11

Maybe I titled this post "the scoop" because I am giving you the scoop on all the latest from OWC...or maybe it's called the scoop because it has been snowing non-stop and you will be scooping snow for days! Either way, I'm glad you are checking out the blog and staying in touch with what God is doing in our church.

The chorale (Sussex-ese for 'choir') from Bethany Bible College was with us yesterday morning. Thanks for braving the weather choir!! I have heard many very positive comments from people who appreciated the ministry of Betty Weatherby and the choir. We currently have three students @ BBC: Andrew Leblanc, Jonathon Bragdon and Ben Cochrane.

The Alpha Course was launched here last night...in the snow! We had close to 20 out for a yummy dinner, a dvd, yummy dessert, and some good discussion. Thanks to Conard and Debby Symonds for last night's dinner! Last night was a 'warm-up' starter evening to the course. If you know of anyone you'd like to invite, they could certainly show up this Sunday @ 5 and not miss very much.

Coffee update: We're trying some Van Houtte here in the office. Very smooth :-) We're brewing Second Cup on Sundays in the "Olivet Cafe". It is a HUGE hit!

"The Factory" renovations are well under way!! There is a team of men here this morning helping to transform our children's areas into modern, bright, exciting spaces! Once the painting is done, we'll be installing the new flooring in rooms and stair-wells. We'll also be adding some custom touches to really make the spaces fun. Can't wait!

The Pirates are coming! This Sunday we launch a two-week series titled: "The Pirates of Relation Ships". Ship 1 is the "Ship of Marriage". Ship 2 is the "Ship of Parenting". These are great services to invite people to. You can expect a jam-packed service full of creativity, worship, and relevance.

2 Services are coming March 16th! 9:00 and 10:30 Which one are you going to? They are identical, and there is a children's program at each. We are also launching a couple of new groups @ 10:30 so you can worship @ 9 and get in a group at 10:30. Sweet!

Monday, February 4

We finished up the "Illuminate" series yesterday with the theme - "Materialism". Everyone got a package of skittles on their way in which represented all of their 'stuff' (or 'stuf' as I had it written on our 6' x 8' lite-brite). We celebrated communion yesterday, we experienced amazing worship, God was with us, and it was a great service. 250+ on the 1st Sunday of February is a great crowd.

Pastor Mark has shared with me that we had 79 kids in youth for the month of January with an average of 52! Woo Hoo!

We were at the Woodworths with a gang for the Superbowl last night. I totally over-ate...but it was worth it!

1st Wednesday is this week. Supper @ 5:30, service @ 7. It's no secret that this is my favorite service. We're planning a special experience that will spiritually propel you into Lent and Easter. Can't wait!

There is lots of buzz about our "Pirates of Relation-Ships" series coming up this month. Who are you inviting??

Alpha starts this Sunday night with dinner, dessert and a dvd. It's an easy, relaxed, no-pressure way to explore the claims of Christianity. You can still register, just email mail@olivetwesleyan.ca

What I'm reading or have recently finished:"When the Game Is Over It All Goes Back In the Box", John Ortberg"Holy Discontent", Bill Hybels"Velvet Elvis", Rob Bell (re-read)"The Emerging Church", Dan Kimball (re-read)